Dubbed the Hughes Fire, the wildfire broke out Wednesday and went from 50-100 acres to 9,000 acres in hours, threatening local communities and Magic Mountain.

The Hughes Fire broke out on Wednesday and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 square miles of trees and brush.

Firefighters made progress on the more than 10,000-acre Hughes Fire Thursday, which sent thousands fleeing after sparking near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic a day earlier.

A large brush fire that erupted near Interstate 5 in Castaic has burned more than 10,000 acres, causing several evacuation orders and warnings Wednesday morning

Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

The fire threat remains critical in Southern California, where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.